Don t moderate me this way

Has anyone else noticed this yet? Yesterday I did my first flight in the B747. During the flight I tested the performance options and ended up with the F/O's displays disabled. Some time later in cruise I saved the flight in order to come back to that scenario some other day. Was flying from the left-hand seat and used the onside CDU (left) only. Today I reloaded that flight but the left CDU remained blank. I opened the offside CDU popup (right) and all my data was there, so I could continue my flight. (I heavily depend on automation, just to let you all know! ) Did some more performance testing and eventually re-enabled the F/O's displays: The left CDU came to life again, mirroring the data I had in the offside CDU. A save/reload data issue? Happened with FSX-SE.

The overhead panel hasn't been modelled as a 2D popup. You can access it (its sections) by repeatedly hitting 'A' in FSX. The three CDUs are independant from each other, so basically they represent three different systems (Captain's side, F/O's side, and "one more in the middle"). Changing assignments may or may not cause problems. (My guess is it doesn't, but I haven't tested it ... yet.)

From the iFly 737 to the PMDG NGX transition should be fairly easy. Both products are in-depth simulations, so iFly has you well-prepared. The biggest point probably is the simulation interface (configuration options, operating knobs and switches). That's where the PMDG introduction document will help you a lot. Transitioning from the 737 to the 777, you may want to go through the 777 tutorial first, slowly and step-by-step, then work your way from the tutorial into the Flight Crew Training Manual bit by bit with every flight. It won't matter what you achieve and when, but having tons of fun just because you're progressing. :smile:

Ryan ("Tabs") mentioned they would roll back improved VAS management into the B777 for sure: http://www.avsim.com/topic/503025-vas-managementyou-nailed-it/?p=3561851 "At some point", which I would expect to be a tad later than "soon".

A few words from Aerosoft on a future box release: http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/119220-pmdg-747v3-box-release/&do=findComment&comment=798112 (I am sure Mathijs is referring to the B744 II/v3) In addition to what others have said in this topic, should the B744 receive more updates after the box release, the box update process probably will have to be handled by Aerosoft, too, with a possible small delay compared to the availability of an update for direct PMDG download customers. So, IMO: Get the plane earlier, cut out the middle man (Aerosoft), give the full price to the hard-working people at PMDG (they deserve it!), get your updates easier and quicker, and back up your download yourself.

Global Base has very good photoreal textures, maybe even a higher autogen density, but I do not really expect a significant VAS impact from that. Certainly I haven't noticed one myself.

Reminds me of an old controversial AVSIM topic: "Basic airmanship is sorely needed in the flightsim community". BTW, aren't all PMDG customers "Pay-to-Fly" pilots?

The SDK is in the initial release, Gerald. PMDG refer to it as a "Hardware SDK", but I hope it covers everything that's required for MCE: "SDK documentation and code examples are included in the FSX\PMDG\PMDG 747 QOTS II\SDK folder." Now beat "the other developer" to it, Gerald!

Touché, Ray, frequently ATC barks at me for runway incursion ("I told you to hold short!!"), but technically, RC will carry on and finally issue a takeoff clearance. A reason for starting on the runway could be that the sim can easily place you on it right from the "Fly Now!" screen, but not immediately at a holding point. Of course the OP could start on the runway, slew the aircraft to the nearest holding point, and start RC from there.

Actually you can. You can even begin on the runway, configure RC for the F/O to handle the comms, and RC will do everything automatically, up to and including the takeoff clearance. Your only "risk" is that RC may assign a different departure runway than the sim initially identifies as the default runway. So in rare cases you may have to request a change to the runway you're on. Sorry, Ray, for treading on your toes. But since the Manchester release AS have banned me from their forum, so I hang around here more!

Clive, I do not think so. As far as I am aware the VAS management is handled by the 32bit applications themselves, and not by the OS. The OS used to come into play only as long as the majority of OS's was 32bit. Then an upgrade to a 64bit OS was beneficial for the available VAS. Now we compare a 64bit Win7 to a 64bit Win10. Nothing to gain here, except for, maybe, a very slight increase in performance (it's there, but I would call it negligible), and a couple of new features and gimmicks. (Some of those being discussed rather controversially )

If you do not mind the differences between the two aircraft types, then the B747 is an even more advanced piece of simulation: Smoother experience if fps should be low, more custom visual and dynamic effects, realistic ground friction model, and some (many) more. So simulation-wise my recommendation is the B747. If for some reason the B777 is the aircraft type that attracts you more, then the PMDG B777 is the way to go. Neither one will disappoint you.

Tough question for me, because I fly the bus from the 2D cockpit only. I'd say the displays in the bus are larger, so easier to read, but that could have just been modeled according to RW differences. My fps in the A320-X and in the B747 are pretty much in the same ballpark as Peter Webber's in his post above. This statement is in favour of PMDG, who need to render a VC for me, while FSL only do the 2D rendering for me. I tried to improve the fps in the B747 by changing the performance options but to no avail on my system with the scenario I had chosen. So for me it's going to be either low but smooth frames, or a different graphics profile that lowers scenery features down to some "airliner level". (My oberservations above reflect very high scenery settings in order to find out about the worst case VAS footprint. Pleased to see that I can hardly break the "VAS barrier" with the B747, and even if I try, I still have a smooth experience fps-wise.) Oliver Maertens On a sidenote: PMDG really got a grip on the native FSX dynamic head movement with their B747. Control of its flaws has greatly improved from the B777. In the B747 the VC views can be handled just as easily and flawlessly as a 2D view, but with additional eye-candy like better textures and PMDG effects like "custom" shaking and sun flare.

I am sorry; what I meant is that switching on/off the B747 strobe lights does not change the value of the default strobe light VAR. Some utilities read the default VARs in order to determine whether the lights of the aircraft are on or off. In the B747 this works fine for Nav, Beacon and Landing lights, but not for the strobe lights. No biggie for sure; but I thought I'd mention it. Oliver Maertens

Same issue here: The file ARPT_RWY is new, all the others are old. (FSX-SE) Oliver Maertens EDIT: The ARPT_RWY file seems to be created ingame only, as I do not have that file in the FSX-MS navdata folder. Files there are old ones, too. (Only flying in FSX-SE currently.)

I noticed PMDG synced their custom exterior lights with the default sim lights (FSX-SE here), like they did with previous releases. The strobe lights seem to be out of sync, though, at least that's what good ole Flight Deck Companion tries to tell me. Just a heads-up; I like very much what I have seen so far. Oliver Maertens

FSX-SE in DX9 mode: Love the VAS figure, but fps could be better. It's smooth, though, so performance-wise it's very similar to the FSL A320-X. (But the B747 has two additional engines. ) Oliver Maertens

Lemme just mention that RSR announced a few VAS comparison figures. That would be a good addition for the performance assessment. The most important question is, though: Can I fly the B747 with my sidestick joystick, or do I have to revert to my ole hardware yoke? Oliver Maertens

Robert "Rampie" Randazzo? Oliver Maertens

Congrats on the release, devs and testers! P3D users may not quite like the price of the P3D version, but as a FSX user I was expecting 100 USD for a number of reasons. Very pleased to see that it's still 90 USD, like for the B777/FSX. I also appreciate the upcoming integration of the REX/MilViz wx radar, as an option next to ASN/AS16 integration (Why does your product page state ASN integration only? Shouldn't you mention AS16 there as well?) Question: Will you release the intro doc and the tutorial as some kind of a preview for people who are still sitting on the fence? Like you did with the DC-6 docs? Again, looks like a job very well done! Oliver Maertens EDIT: Also love the new start page at precisionmanuals (dot) com!

I prefer known quantities over moving targets, so yes, I'm gonna buy the FSX license. The Steam edition is pretty solid, and I kinda dislike VAS usage differing by sim versions, hotfixes, and reinstalls. Oliver Maertens

The short list is too long for my liking, notwithstanding this I am considering to buy it. 4 throttle levers on my brand new game controller - the A320 just doesn't quite cut it in the no. of engines department! Oliver Maertens

Just speculating, maybe the older version 2 of MSE New Mexico has never been updated for P3Dv3? By and large it doesn't matter for which sim (version) or in which folder you install MSE. As long as you can activate the scenery manually in your sim you should be fine. (MSE is basically all self-contained stuff with a single library entry per state.) No response from the US store of PC Aviator is a well-known issue for many customers. (Not for all of them, though.) Have you tried contacting them through pcaviator (dot) com *AND* through megasceneryearth (dot) com?

Thank you, Flight Sim Labs! FSX has never been more attractive ...